Astronaut flew after Sharkodile through the forest of giant trees. They'd been playing cat and mouse for a while now. The chimera's Ability was irritating; she was swimming through the earth as though it were water. Astronaut was uprooting the giant trees using his gravity manipulation to try and force her above ground, but she kept dodging this way and that.

Finally, they came to a clearing.

What Astronaut saw below was incredible.

It was a colossal hole.

It was around 1000 meters wide and at least 20,000 meters deep. The interior cliffs looked like they had their own ecosystem: there were horizontal trees, vertical rivers, and what looked like animal chimeras made up of three different animals. He peered down into the hole to try and see what was at the bottom, but beyond a certain point, all that could be seen was darkness.

What is this? An impact crater from an asteroid strike?

Sharkodile finally jumped out of the ground and grinned up at him with her hands on her hips. Like the rest of her race, she was a fascinating-looking creature. She had the general humanoid shape and even the long brown hair of an Earthling woman, but the green scales of a crocodile, the grey fins of a shark on her upper back, forearms, and lower legs, and a crocodilian tail ending in a pair of sharkish caudal fins.

If the Adventurers Guild wasn't so desperate to get the situation under control, Astronaut would have loved to take his time subduing Sharkodile so he could take her back to Area 51 and try some experiments on her. Sadly, he was on the clock.

'Give up,' said Astronaut. 'There is no escape.'

Sharkodile laughed. 'You really don't know anything about this planet, do you, dingo? Typical coloniser.' She turned to the hole. 'This is the Void. The shamans say its the source of all life on Manticore. They say there's a legendary treasure at the bottom. There are nine levels to it, but most Void Raiders only make it to the third before they get eaten by the wildlife.'

'Why are you telling me this?'

Sharkodile scowled up at him. 'You colonisers come to Manticore thinking you're civilising us chimeras, but we already have our own culture, our own traditions, our own way of life. If you had things your way, wonders of the world like this would be destroyed to make way for endless megacities like Babel, all in the name of multidimensional multiculturalism. I just wanted to let you to know that the Manticore Liberation Front's war with United Worlds isn't just about freedom, it's also about racial identity, too.'

Astronaut crossed his arms. 'It is amusing that you think your planet is in any way special. I am an Ancient Astronaut; I have lived for over 1000 years. In that time, I have seen countless worlds fall due to war, plague, famine, and endless other calamities. The United Worlds and its policy of interdimensional globalism is the best chance the Multiverse has for long term peace and stability. If that means the loss of a few racial identities, so be it. Now, enough talk. Will you surrender?'

Sharkodile grinned. 'Fuck off.' She put her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

Two kaiju chimeras climbed out of the Void.

One was a giant, bipedal rhino with the torso and shell of a turtle; the other was a giant, bipedal cobra with the arms and legs of a cheetah.

Sharkodile pointed up at Astronaut. 'Rhurtle, Cheebra, give him the business!'

Quick as lightning, Cheebra dashed behind Astronaut and slashed his back with its cheetah claws.

Rhurtle charged forwards and rammed Astronaut's front with his rhino horn.

Thanks to his gravity shield, however, Astronaut hardly felt a thing. 'Pathetic.'

He used his gravity manipulation to lift himself and the two kaiju chimeras up into the air.

He looked down at Sharkodile. 'I am the Galactic Guardian of the Milky Way, you savage. It will take a lot more than a simple ambush to defeat me.' He dropped Rhurtle and Cheebra into the Void.

Sharkodile cocked her head. 'Will it really, though?'

A shadow came over him.

Astronaut looked up to see a another kaiju chimera: a frog with the wings of a butterfly.

The frog-butterfly kicked him down hard with his frog feet.

Astronaut hurtled into the Void and crash landed on a grassy cliff.

Rhurtle and Cheebra leered over him from the cliffs above.

The butterfly-frog landed on the edge of the Void. Sharkodile appeared beside it.

'Nice one, Butterfrog.' She patted the kaiju chimera's foot before grinning down at Astronaut. 'You advanced races aren't half full of yourselves. Dingos.'

Astronaut stood up. 'You have only delayed the inevitable.' He started to fly out of the Void, but a sudden intense pain all over his body made him stop in mid-air.

Sharkodile laughed. 'I see you're feeling the Voodoo of the Void. You can't ascend too quickly or the pressure will kill you, bit like scuba diving. No one knows why it happens; the best shamans on Manticore can't explain it. Don't worry, though; I'm sure Rhurtle, Cheebra, and Butterfrog here will help you up. As for me, there's a certain Sheepwolf that needs shearing. Hooroo.' She equipped her bowie knife and swam away.

Rhurtle, Cheebra, and Butterfrog jumped on Astronaut.

This was going to be a long day.

*

Captain Hawk flew through the clouds at the head of a squadron of Republican starfighters.

The League of Monsters had appeared in Babel, the Adventurers Guild had messed things up, and now it was the United World Peacekeepers' job to pick up the slack.

'Alright, gentlemen!' Captain Hawk said to his pilots through the radio. 'We're coming up on Babel now!'

The clouds cleared to reveal the doughnut-shaped city of Babel beneath the world tree Yggdrasil.

Komodo Kong was standing on top of Yggdrasil's crown of leaves while Lord Inferno circled around him. Komodo Kong was throwing giant branches at the dragon while Lord Inferno blasted fire at the kaiju chimera.

'That's Lord Inferno!' said Captain Hawk. 'He's caused the Empire in the High Fantasy Universe a lot of trouble! Stay sharp!'

Spaceman Sparrow laughed. 'Of course he has! The limeys don't even have an Air Force, let alone a Space Force! Relax, Captain! This is going to be a walk in the park!'

'Don't get cocky, Sparrow! Just to be safe, we're going to hit him with everything we've got! On my mark!'

Lord Inferno circled around Komodo Kong. Captain Hawk waited until his back was to them....

'Mark!'

Lasers, plasma bombs, railgun shells, and faster than light missiles screamed towards the dragon.

In the blink of an eye, Lord Inferno was gone.

A shadow came over them.

The dragon was flying above the squadron. 'DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD AMBUSH ME, YOU PEASANTS?! I'VE BEEN DOWNING STARFIGHTERS SINCE YOU WERE AT YOUR MOTHER'S TEAT!'

Captain Hawk screamed.

Lord Inferno blasted them with fire.

*

Lord Inferno grinned as the burning starfighters spiralled to the city below and exploded.

Something big caught his eye.

A giant branch smacked him in the face.

His head throbbed. Several fangs went flying.

Komodo Kong roared like a gorilla and beat his chest with his fists.

Lord Inferno fumed at the mouth. 'INSOLENT APE!'

He tried to set Komodo Kong on fire, but the kaiju chimera used a giant branch to catch the flame and threw it back at him.

Lord Inferno dodged sideways. 'DAMN YOU TO HELL!'

This was going nowhere. He was fighting Komodo Kong, the Champion of Yggdrasil, in his element. What he needed was a change of tactics.

The Champion of Yggrasil....

An evil smile spread across Lord Inferno's face.

He descended and set Yggdrasil's trunk ablaze.

Komodo Kong dropped through the crown of leaves and smothered the flame with his body. He hissed like a Komodo dragon as he burned.

Lord Inferno cackled. 'THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!'

Komodo Kong pounced off the trunk and slammed into him.

They fell together in a mess of entangled limbs and crash landed onto the city.

Komodo Kong punched him repeatedly in the face. Furious, Lord Inferno sank his teeth into the kaiju chimera's neck. Komodo Kong pried his jaws apart and shoved him back into a castle.

The kaiju chimera was charging at him when Lord Inferno got the bright idea to set fire to the surrounding buildings: Ancient Japanese temples, futuristic American skyscrapers, and tree arcologies went up on flame.

People everywhere screamed and ran out of the buildings.

Komodo Kong looked around, panicked.

Lord Inferno coughed smoke. He wasn't as young as he used to be; at 100 years old, this was all the fire he could produce for now.

He climbed on top of the castle, sore all over and exhausted, and grinned down at Komodo Kong. 'I'M OUT OF ENERGY, OLD BOY. SO WHAT'S IT GOING TO BE? ARE YOU GOING TO SAVE THE CIVILIANS AND LET ME ESCAPE, OR ARE WE GOING TO CONTINUE OUR JOUST TO THE BITTER END?'

After a moment of hesitation, Komodo Kong grunted in resignation and started putting out the fires with his hands.

Lord Inferno cackled. 'YOU HEROES ARE ALL THE SAME: SENTIMENTAL FOOLS!'

He took off into the sky.

Even as old as he was, he still loved the sight of burning cities.